Category: Hurricane Irma

Well, its finally here, blog post 365 and it feels a bit weird. For the 90% of my facebook friends that have had to put up with these posts each day and who are just not interested, don’t worry its over. But for those that have read these and showed a small amount of interest, this is for you.

Its over, Ive managed to post 3 photos a day for 365 days and now Im thinking back at the days all those times where I’d given up precious sleep or I’ve been rushing around writing from my phone and its all built up to this moment trying to get these post done. Now, 150,000 words later, 2TB’s of photos and countless hours walking around trying to make each day interesting and worthy are over.

It all started from a conversation with Amy on a weekend away, that turned into me basically going full steam ahead everyday for the past year and in turn has been one of the craziest years or my life, I’ve worked all around the world, including two months in America and China, completely ruined my leg and had to basically learn to walk again, now living with Amy (my girlfriend), completely done up our flat and now working on some really cool projects and productions that I’m pretty proud of.

For todays post I was trying to think of a cool way to end it, like set off loads of fireworks or fly to some amazing beach and finish with a cocktail and some sun burn, but to be honest looking back at the year, the only way to end is to really show 25 of my favourite photos from the 1200 that I’ve posted. Photos that might over wise be forgotten about and disappear into the depths of my hard drive. I’m now sat on my Lunch break at work scrolling through photos and laughing at all the stuff that’s gone on, from coming home after 18 hours a work with nothing to photograph so running down stairs and buying some fruit to cut open and photograph to seeing someone sunbath on Shoreditch high-street drinking beer in just a pair of hot pants or even that time I flew back from Victoria, Canada on a dodgy plane that had no in flight entertainment so for 15 hours I taped my iPhone to the seat in front of me and watched weird low budget films the whole way, just after I had been in the path of Hurrican Irma and witnessed what state of emergency meant in North Carolina.

This blog has been one of the best things I’ve ever done and if it wasn’t for Amy saying “you should start a photo blog” then we wouldn’t be here today and I probably wouldn’t have the confidence or even writing ability and photography skills I have today. Im by no means an expert but I like to think from where I was last year, I’m much better. So thank you Amy for putting up with the words “I gotta do my photos” to helping me figure out tough posts and just generally putting up with the daily stress of being with me. Your alright you are and I owe you big time.

Looking back at my writing a year ago I have no idea how I even managed to send an email let alone put together an interesting paragraph, but this past year I’ve written around 150,000 words with a minimum daily count of 300 words, its not just given me confidence in my writing ability, its also helped me talk to people and just going with my gut instinct, then having the confidence to see a task through till the end. That’s something I didn’t realise I didn’t have till I’ve started thinking about my next steps and how confident I am about what I want todo next. In the words of my good friend Anders “I’m no Neurosurgeon, but Ill give it ago”.

This photo challenge might be over and the stress of posting everyday is now in the past but I promise this wont be my last post, I’ve sat down this past month and thought of ways to carry on and what direction I should move in and to be honest what I have in the pipe line is something that I’m even more excited about and can’t wait to share with you all. But right now, its time to get some sleep and just enjoy the fact that I’ve managed to see this all the way through to the end. Not even the Chinese government or countless timezones and flight delays were able to stop me.

So one last time.

Here’s my photos from today. Enjoy.

– this is how i plan on spending the next 2 weeks, before I start putting work in on the next project. I will still blog but just not daily – – doing my final walk around bethnal green taking photos for the blog this evening, it kind of felt a bit like a victory lap –– I will always take street photos and try to capture cool moments where ever I am –Before you see my favourite 25, I just want to say thank you too the 13,500 readers from 119 countries that have read my daily blog, not all hero’s wear capes.

On to the next challenge and a new direction for joshfspear.com

Peace out and thank you for sticking with me through the terrible grammar and countless spelling mistakes!

– it was at this post that the idea for the blog was created, Bleinheim Palace –– playing with the gopro after amy picked me up from the pub, thanks mush –– walking through hyde park early morning is something I wish I could do more often – – london has been the perfect city for this photo challenge, thank you to all the grumpy people that dressed up as storm troopers or sun bath on highstreets, you have made this blog a million times better –– the day I found out my leg was ruined and I wouldnt be able to run the ultra marathon or walk for that matter –– moving in with this one, so happy we have done the most of our ikea shopping tick list, please no more –– explore italy, she has some how managed to put up with my constant photo taking –– its always good to see stuff like this on your way home –– this dog still is one of my favourite dogs ive come across –– in four years of living in Bethnal Green, this year I saw the most snow ive ever seen in london –– Norfolk sea side is one of my favourite places to photograph, the colours always come out perfect –– this image was the first one I had taken shooting in RAW, and my god it was worth the switch from JPEG even is the files are bigger– I am looking forward to the summer again and getting more colour in my photos– this is one of my favourite photos from the past year, right time, right place i suppose –-again, right place right time, the sea gull literally dived down and stole her fish and chips –– seeing people jamming on the guitars in St.Louis was pretty cool, hopefully Ill get to go back there soon –– seeing a deer walk down the street in Victoria, Canada. Luckily I had a 70-200mm lens on my camera at the time –– water planes on the river in Victoria, a place that I would love to explore when im not working –– 15 hour flight, using my phone at a TV. that was an experiance I wouldn’t do again in a hurry –– walking round New York, this photo was taken somewhere near the brooklyn bridge –– flying out of New York –– the view from my room in Shang hai, that place is like no where else ive been –– christmas on Bond street, these two were well into the christmas sprite –– flo doing what flo does best, cause havoc –– our drive to the flat in Italy, the Amalfi coast is somewhere I would love to go again –Peace out everyone, its been fun.

So tonights Premier Inn is somewhere near a motorway around a town called Hatfeild, thats as much as I know about where Im staying to be honest and out of all the Premier Inns Ive stayed in, this one could be the best for customer service. The food was a bit slow but you cant judge a hotel off of one slight mistake, the rooms are clean and the food was actually pretty enjoyable. Today I decided to try something that has been a bit controversial and go for the fire noddles with chicken ( for an extra £2), and it was actually a pretty good choice and right now I know all those Wagamammas fans out there will be saying ” but it doesn’t have a thing on wagamammas” but thats not true.

With a place like wagamammas your standards are a lot higher but with some where like Premier inn its just about getting some sort of food inside you and today thats exactly what i got, good, kind of fresh food at a decent price. what more could you want.

I know this is going to sound like a first world problem and to be honest its not something thats a deal breaker but one thing I dont like about Premier Inn, is the length of their corridors and numbering systems. I know that they need to fit a certain number of room in but please guys add a few short cuts or something because when someone like me who travels with 10 bags and 15 peli cases needs a room we also need it to be easily accessible from the reception which 9 out of 10 times is not that case.

But for all its worth I would have to give this Premier Inn a 8/10 and a 4.5 star travel rating, its a place that does everything it says on the tin and also has a really good sized car park, which is perfect for long wheel base vans.

Hatfeild premier Inn on the M25 you have served me well.

– these corridors are just a bit too long for someone with so many bags –– the best sight someone can see after a long days work, the famous premier inn bed –– my dinner the fire cracker noddles with chicken – pretty decent and quite healthy –

That us done with North Carolina, next stop St. Louis Missouri, im currently at the airport watching planes take off at Raleigh Airport with a beer and burger. tomorrow is our first proper no work day off since getting to this side of the world and I actually cant wait. There’s not a definite plan but I think a water park is on the cards.

I have to say that North Carolina has been interesting from their choice of food, its just steak and deep fried fresh asparagus to the amount of guns that everyone has. In the uk you think that people in America might own one or two guns, but everyone I have spoken to seems to have about 20!

I defintatly want to come back to this part of the world not to work and rush around but to just take photos and meet the people. Its one of the those places where everyone has so much to say and its pretty cool to hear peoples views. You can’t agree with everyone but you can hear him or her out. Then make your opinion. I think we could each other learn a lot from each other.

My last day here has been filled with Pancakes, Burgers, Fries and extra large coke. I’ve had a burger for lunch and dinner and now cant wait to find a gym tomorrow and cycle till I fill normal again, its fair to say I’ve eaten the southern way these past few days, and now I’m ready for something that’s been grown and put on my plate with out any sugar or preservatives.

Anyway onto to the next state, I have no idea what Missouri is like and really excited to have a day off there and explore the city. St Louis is meant to be amazing so im looking forward to getting there and not spending the day on a schedule or with a Peli case.

Thank you Goldsboro for the big plates of food and for make me appreciate organic vegetables.

Sorry for the lack in creative photos, today I was just trying to get through it in one piece.

– the waffle house near downtown Goldsboro –– sitting at releigh airport waiting for my plane –– getting the back end of the storm over here, so pretty rainy and cold, St louis is meant to be a bit warmer I think –

Im currently in a town called Goldsboro in north Carolina, its this small town which falls under the wayne county, form in 1787 by William Whitefeild iii. to be honest this place has got a fair bit of history and something I think is pretty cool to know more about considering the fact that I’m staying here.

One cool fact about this place is todo with a battle that happened here in 1862 called the Battle of Goldborough Bridge. the whole reason for this battle was because both sides wanted to have the strategic possession for the rail road bridge, like a proper western movie. General John Foster turned up at the bridge with his troops on December the 17th, with the sole aim to destroy the position and put a holt to the enemies supply chain from the port of Wilmington. John Foster managed to complete this mission and burned down the bridge on the same day that they arrived, this really annoyed the confederate troops on the other side. they decided to attack General Foster and his troops on their way back to New Bern. which kind of failed because the confederate troops ended off with more causalities that John Fosters men.

Another interesting fact is that in 1961 two NUCLEAR bombs were dropped 12 miles from Goldsboro in the town of Faro, by accident when a B-52 bomber carrying two 3.8 Megaton Hydrogen bombs broke up mid air and went through several stages of detention, one bomb was discovered but the second bomb broke up and it is believed that a big part of Uranium is still in the swamp somewhere. Maybe thats the reason some swamp people have 6 toes and 7 fingers…

Anyway, heres some snaps from today, I really wanted to go with the black and white shots today and shot a normal neighbour in this part of the world.

So it seems these past few days Ive been in a bit confused as to what day this is of me posting, Ive been sat at my laptop trying to figure out how I messed up counting. but ive figured it out and its all correct now I think.

its my first proper day in the south and its a really cool place, everyone it proper nice and just happy to chat, from the people in Walmart to the guys we are down here filming. At the moment its around 26 degrees, I have no idea what that is in fahrenhiet, but apparently its not too bad for this part of the world, the hurricane has brought down the temperature a bit.

tonight we went to some bar in town and had a few beers and some food, it was good to speak to people from this area and to learn about them and how they live compared to life growing up in London. I completely forgot that its legal to carry guns in this part of the world and when I saw a gun at the bar, it was a bit of a shock. drinking a pint and carry a gun at the same time is something Ive never seen, but thats how they live so as long as my nights not ruined, who I am to judge.

Im happy to be there and looking forward to seeing more of this place and definitely think I should come back not for work, but to take cool photos and get to know the people better. I want to explore the south more and really see what this place is about, it’s full of people with a lot of stories to tell.

on another hand the food is crazy, today I tried deep fried corn on the cob, its not for me, I dont think I will ever be eating that again. ill stick to the way my mum does it. Burnt.

– Taking photos of striaght roads is pretty fun for some reason –– this is a post box –– Hurricane Irma has emptied the shelves –

So good news is I’ve landed in the USA, bad news is I’ve landed in North Carolina, where they are currently in a state of Emergency for Hurricane Irma. Everywhere has sold out of water and the military are on stand by. Its re assuring to know that the hotel I’m staying in also doesn’t have any bottled water. We are just following the Hurricane at the moment and waiting to see what it does with Florida, if it travels north up the coast, it could be an issue with us or does it travel in land, either way its looking like our flight out of Raleigh on Monday is going to be delayed as that’s when they are excepting the weather to hit us. The waitress in the bar next door said they are expecting to get hit with possibly a category 3 Hurricane, I have no idea what that means but im sure its nothing compared to a category 5.

The worst thing about this whole saga, is that when there’s a state of Emergency, the sale of alcohol is stopped. Meaning I cant even have a beer and ignore this whole situation.

For now the plan is to stock up on water, food and anything else and then carry on as normal till we have more news and then depending on how it goes drive somewhere safer or try and get on a flight. What ever happens, I will try and capture as many photos as I can. Im sure the whole thing will be fine, over the next few days we will have a better idea of what is happening and worst case I just end up getting my socks a bit wet.

In other news I met a nice guy called reverend Jones from South Carolina, he was up this way to preach and sing at a funeral and was staying at the same hotel as him. I managed to grab a photo of Reverend Jones, what a guy he was. Top man.

Heres my photos from today, started off in Toronto Canada now in Goldsboro, North Carolina.